Bug Catcher
by Dingdong250
Summary: "Wait...we're doing what?" Link asked warily. Beaming, Zelda smacked him on the shoulder, "Weren't you listening? We're going bug catching!" It's an activity that most married couples do...right? Skyward Sword post game. [one shot] Zelink


**A random idea that popped into my head and it seemed like it would be fun to write, so here!**

* * *

"Wait…what are we doing again?" Link asked, a wary look decorating his face as he suspiciously eyed the excited gleam twinkling in his wife's lovely blue eyes.

Laughing, she smacked him on the shoulder. "Weren't you listening? We're going bug-catching!" Zelda answered enthusiastically, brandishing her bug net with much fervor.

"Uh, why?" said Link, awkwardly grasping his.

"Why not?" she chirped. "I thought it was normal for married couples to participate in activities like this." At the end of her sentence, she cocked her head to the side adorably, and Link resisted the urge to envelop her in his arms and carry her to their bedroom upstairs.

"Maybe not these kinds of activities…" he mumbled. The sparkle in Zelda's eyes did not die down however, and it only seemed to glow much brighter after Link finished.

"Well, maybe not but still, it'll be fun!" Zelda said brightly. "C'mon!" She weaved her fingers into Link's, and tugged him outside. The young man couldn't help but to smile softly at how eager Zelda was, and sighed, showing no resistance as she dragged him further away from their cozy little abode.

Zelda slowed down as they neared the entrance of Faron Woods. Whirling around to face him, she dug around in the messenger bag resting on her hip.

"I've made a list!" she declared proudly, pulling out said list. "I asked Strich to help me with all of the species too." She held it up in front of his face.

Link groaned. "We're going to catch all twelve of them?"

"Yes," she stated firmly. "And we're starting with the Faron Grasshopper!"

They traversed through the sparse undergrowth, keeping an eye out for any signs of movement in the foliage. Fortunately, the tall trees provided shade from the hot sun, and a comfortable wind was blowing from the east.

"You're the expert here," Zelda said out the corner of her mouth, as if loud noise would scare the insects away. "What's our battle plan?"

"Charge into the grass and scare it out," Link deadpanned. It was instantly rejected.

"Nuh-uh mister," admonished Zelda as she wagged a finger. "That idea sucks."

Link shrugged. "It worked once, it can work twice. What do you propose then?"

Zelda instantly dropped down into a crouch. "Stealth is key."

Link stood still as he watched Zelda creep around the tall grass, and he mentally weighed what was more important; his wife's happiness, or his dignity. The answer was obvious, and he knelt beside her with his bug net ready.

"Aha!" Zelda exclaimed, pointing at a small moving figure heading towards the main path. "There it is!" She crept up to it carefully, and Link watched with amusement as she prepared the net above her head. In one swift motion, she brought it down onto the insect.

"Did 'ya get it?" Link asked. Zelda peered into the net before charging down the dirt path, her boots kicking up dust as she ran. Link sighed, smiling as he jogged behind her.

"There was another one over here!" he called. Zelda didn't seem to hear, and he upped his speed. They were now in step, with the bug a few feet in front of them. On the side of the road was a Kikwi, and it raised its stubby arm in greeting.

"Hello Link and Zelda-" The two flew past it.

"Crap! It's spreading its wings!" Zelda cried. The grasshopper pushed off the ground, and the couple exchanged a determined look. Link nodded, and Zelda jumped towards him. Her feet were pushed onto Link's hands, and he launched her into the air. Zelda hurdled towards the bug waving her bug net sporadically, and she landed on the ground with a small flip.

"We got it!" she announced triumphantly, bounding towards Link with a cheery expression. Placing her hands onto Link's chest, she pressed a small kiss onto his lips with a light airy smile on her face.

"W-what are we going to do with it?" said Link, a light pink spreading over his cheeks.

"Let it go," Zelda replied, letting the insect to crawl back onto the ground. It instantly took off into the sky. "Check it off the list." She said warmly, handing the piece of paper to him.

"That's it? We're just letting it go?" Link said, marking a big check onto the paper.

Zelda nodded. "Yup."

Setting the net onto her shoulder, she marched deeper into the forest, her honey blonde hair swinging with each step.

"Next is the Deku Hornet," said Zelda succinctly.

Link grimaced. "You sure? It's going to hurt…"

Zelda flashed him a confident smile. "Not if we're careful, and we're getting _all_ of the bugs on the list." Link simply nodded; there was no way of convincing Zelda once she had set her mind to something.

They swung onto the vine leading towards the deeper part of the forest, and walked through the tunnel that separated the two areas.

"There's a Hornet nest in the tree over there," Link whispered as they hid in the bushes a few feet away.

"I see it," Zelda whispered back, leaves sticking in and out of her hair. "What do you say we do?"

Link pulled out his slingshot, a smirk flickering onto his lips. "Shoot it down."

"There's got to be a better idea," Zelda said reproachfully. Link shrugged, loading multiple Deku nuts onto the catapult.

"Not that I know of," he responded. "And they'll just make another one after we're done." Zelda looked at him curiously. "It's true, if we were to knock their hive down, it would be back up if we were to go through the tunnel and back."

"Wow," Zelda breathed. Link aimed the slingshot, and pulled the Deku nuts to the back.

"They're gonna come at you, so swing the bug net at them really quickly," Link warned. Zelda nodded, and watched as the projectile hit the hive, causing it to smash into bits and pieces on the ground.

Zelda leapt up as the hornets swarmed in their direction. Swallowing nervously, she held out her net as Link calmly mirrored her actions next to her. Then a grin spread onto her face, and she rushed forward.

Too bad she tripped.

Zelda lay sprawled on the ground, the buzz of the hornets growing in volume as they neared her. She reached for her bug net, but was picked up by strong arms.

Crying out, Link ran in circles around the tree with Zelda slung over his shoulder, dodging the hornets expertly before charging back towards the tunnel.

* * *

"Okay, take two," Zelda said with determination, a blue fire burning in her eyes. Once again, they were burrowed in the bushes.

"We can just do the same thing," Link sighed. Zelda shook her head vehemently.

"No, this time we should do something different!" she said. "Our last tactic was a failure, so-"

"That was because you tripped," Link interjected.

"-we need a new strategy," finished Zelda. She eyed the hornet nest. Turning to Link, she ordered, "Get out your Gust Bellows."

Realizing what she wanted to do, Link warily handed her it. In return, she gave Link her bug net with sunny smile.

"Use both, honey," Zelda said endearingly.

"U-use both?" Link said, uneasily clutching the two bug nets. As Zelda jumped out of the bush, twigs and leaves trailing after her, she silently crept around the tree until she was facing Link from the other side.

"You-you sure you want to do this?" Link called as softly as he could. From the other side of the tree, Zelda gave him a thumbs up and pointed the Gust Bellows at the nest.

Grinning manically, she activated it and gusts of air blew out, knocking the nest out of the tree. While she hid unnoticed in another bush, Link was now standing out in the open, awkwardly grasping both bug nets.

The hornet swarm charged at him, its incessant buzzing growing even louder as it closed the distance between them. Running around in little circles, Link blinding swung both nets out in front of him.

_This feels so stupid_, Link grimaced as he saw Zelda laughing out of the corner of his eye. Finally all the Deku hornets were trapped inside the nets, and Zelda rejoined him under the tree.

"The list!" she reminded, smiling brightly at him. Link scanned the paper, and checked off the Deku Hornet.

"So next is the Woodland Rhino Beetle right?" he asked. Zelda nodded, picking up the two nets filled with the buzzing hornets.

"So how do we release these guys?" she asked.

* * *

"We need to roll into the wall," Zelda said, looking up at the beetle. "It's too high."

Link sighed, knowing that it would have to be him. But Zelda wasn't finished.

"What if we shot it down with your slingshot?" she wondered.

"We'll kill it."

"What about your beetle thing, could we pick it up with that?"

"We'll kill it."

"How about your clawshots?"

"We'll kill it."

Zelda put a hand on her hip and patted the other on Link's shoulder. "Guess it's the only option. Good luck hubby."

"I think just chucking a rock near it should suffice," Link frowned, picking up a stone next to him. He hurled it next to the beetle, and it fell onto the ground, struggling on its back.

"Success!" Zelda cheered, picking up the beetle with two fingers. Link pulled out the list, and marked a big check on it.

_Nine more to go,_ he thought.

"Well then, let's head to Eldin," Link stated.

[Eldin Province]

"Funny, I'd never noticed how hot it was here," Zelda remarked, wiping her forehead with her sleeve.

"Well, we _are _next to a volcano," Link replied. "Which bug are we looking for anyway?"

"The Eldin Roller!" she chimed. Seeing the look on Link's face, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"They're _really_ fast," he groused. "So you need to sneak up on them or they'll scuttle away with those balls of crap."

Zelda's face lit up. "Told you stealth is key!"

Link chuckled, "Yeah yeah, now c'mon." They trekked through the dry earth, greeting the occasional Mogma that had tunneled its way to the surface.

"So where would we find it?" Zelda asked as they were nearing the Fire Temple.

"It should be around here…" Link muttered, strolling around the building with a hand on his chin. "Right around those bomb flowers."

"Here!" exclaimed Zelda, pointing at one that was nearing the edge. She was crouched precariously over the ledge that hung over the large sand hill.

Link took out his bug net, and ran over to where she was. Zelda also had her bug net, but she wasn't moving.

Turning her head to him, she pointed at the slopes. "It fell off."

The little bug was still pushing its ball of something as it rode the sand down.

"Look at it go," Link whistled.

"Very impressive," Zelda nodded. They turned back and headed towards the abandoned Bokoblin camp. Link poked his head inside multiple tents, and was fortunate to see a hole in one of them. Calling over Zelda, he pulled out his Mogma Mitts.

"Now, when I finish digging, a couple of Rollers will pop out, so be ready," Link told her as he kneeled on the ground.

It was quick business, and with another bug crossed off their list, they made their way inside the volcano on the lookout for the Volcanic Ladybug.

"This one should be pretty easy," said Link. "They rarely move much, and are usually crawling around on the walls." Zelda nodded, and with that, their task in Eldin was complete.

[Lanayru Province]

"Ugh…I hate this place," Link groaned, stepping into the Lanayru Mine. Zelda looked at him curiously. "It's hot, dry, and I've sunk one too many times in the quick-sand. The bugs here are really hard to catch too."

Zelda shrugged, her joyful expression never faltering. "It's more exciting when it's difficult."

A small smile was pasted onto Link's face. "Actually, there's something here that's quite fun."

"What is it?" said Zelda inquisitively.

Link was now grinning from ear to ear. "Mine carts."

* * *

Zelda shrieked as she held onto Link for dear life. She clung onto his waist, her eyes squeezed shut.

Link placed a hand on her hair. "We're not even going that fast, look." He tilted her face up.

She relinquished her death grip on his torso. "Oh."

A grin spread onto Link's face. "But we can go faster…"

"NO!" Zelda cried. Link laughed, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

They passed through the door leading to the desert, and hopped out of the mine cart.

"Now, wasn't that fun?" Link teased. Zelda smoothed out her hair, and pouted at him. He laughed once more, finding her expression to be quite cute. "Next time I'll bring you to the Shipyard."

"What's that?" Zelda said.

Link smiled. "You'll see next time we come here. But now we gotta find the Gerudo Dragonfly."

"Oh," breathed Zelda. "There's the Temple of Time!"

"Yep, looks very majestic doesn't it?" said Link, making his way down the gentle slope. "Last time I checked, there were some dragonflies outside the Stone Cache…"

It took them a good portion of the afternoon obtaining all of the insects in Lanayru Province, and their last destination was to Skyloft.

"It's been a while since we flew up here," Zelda said happily as their loftwings pushed through the cloud barrier.

Link nodded. "Indeed."

"How many bugs do we have left?" asked Zelda, the island of Skyloft growing larger in the distance.

"Four," Link answered. Their loftwings descended to the village, and they quickly got off. "We can catch the Blessed Butterflies first," he suggested.

They passed many villagers, many of which were quick to engage them in conversation as their last trip here was almost a month ago. As they neared the bush of flowers, Zelda raised her bug net quietly, and swiftly brought it down over one unfortunate butterfly.

Zelda beamed, and showed Link her handiwork. "I'm getting pretty good at this, aren't I?"

"Bertie should hire you," said Link good-naturedly.

* * *

They slept till night, the only time where the Starry Fireflies came out.

"They fly above the river," Link informed. "So we're going to get a bit wet."

"No problem!" said Zelda, tying up the bottom of her pink dress into a knot at her hip. They waded into the water as silently as they could, their bug nets hanging just above the surface.

"They might fly closer-"

"Link? Is that you?" called a voice. The couple turned towards the sound, and saw Pipit standing on the bridge, eyeing them oddly. "What are you two doing?"

Link smiled sheepishly, arm still in mid-swing. How weird they must have looked, standing chest deep in the middle of the river waving their bug nets like hooligans.

Zelda answered for him. "We're bug-catching!"

Pipit frowned. "At this time of night?"

"It's the only time the fireflies come out," Link answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You two…" Pipit sighed, smiling. "Take care of yourselves. Luckily the Remlit that hangs out here's absent today. And I'll be patrolling near the housing districts, so just call if you need anything." He jogged away.

Zelda burst out laughing. "We must have looked so stupid!"

"Indeed," agreed Link. He turned his head up towards the glowing insects, and grinned. "We've got ourselves a bug to catch."

* * *

Morning came pretty quickly, and the couple lay knocked out on Link's bed in the Knight Academy. As a ray of sunlight made its way through the closed blinds, Zelda's eyes shot open, and a large smile appeared on her lips.

She flew out of bed, and yanked on Link's sleeve. "Come. On. Sleepyhead!" She grunted. Link groaned, and pulled Zelda back into the covers, wrapping his arms around her as if she was a pillow.

"Five more minutes," he grumbled sleepily, burying his face into her hair.

"We've got one more bug to catch!" Zelda told him excitedly, still enveloped inside Link's embrace. "This is no time for sleeping!"

"There is always time for sleeping," Link replied sluggishly, pulling the blankets up even higher. There was silence, and he sighed contently.

A dark twinkle shined in Zelda's eyes, and she cackled quietly. Reaching under the blankets, she maneuvered her fingers underneath his shirt and lightly traced them on his skin. Link squirmed, and pressed himself closer to the edge.

"I'll stop tickling you if you get up," Zelda said. No answer. Her fingers then danced at the side of his neck, and Link head snapped sideways, squishing her hand between his cheek and shoulder.

"I'll get up…in a second," he grunted.

"One!" Zelda counted. "There, a second's passed. Get up!"

Link slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the light that had seeped into the room. "What time is it?"

Zelda shrugged. "I don't know. But it's late enough; you can hear all the hustle and bustle outside."

It took ten minutes for Link to start functioning properly.

"You're like a Redead in the morning, you know," Zelda commented as they left the Knight Academy.

"I thought this was established already."

Zelda hummed in answer. "So our last bug is the Skyloft Mantis, right?"

"Yeah, they mostly hide in pots though," Link responded.

Zelda looked thoughtful. "New rule!" she crowed. "We have to break the pots using different methods. No repeats!"

Link tilted his head to the side. "Why?"

"It's more fun that way!" she trilled, tugging on his hand in the direction of the Bazaar. "I'm pretty sure there were some pots outside of it."

The pots came into view, and Zelda bounded forward towards it. Picking one up, she chucked it at the wall. It broke into bits and pieces.

"No bug," she frowned. "But there's a blue rupee in here!"

"My turn then," said Link. He pulled out his sword, and sliced the pot in half. "No bug here either, huh."

[xxxxxxx]

Orielle walked with her brother Parrow towards the Bazaar as their supply of red potion had just run out.

"Hey, isn't that Link and Zelda?" Parrow said. Orielle turned in the direction he was looking at, and smiled.

"It is!" she exclaimed. "It's been a while since they last returned."

"…But what are they doing?" said Parrow.

The couple was surrounded by clay pots, and both of them were actively destroying as many as they could. They seemed to be looking for something.

Orielle shrugged with an amused expression. "Newly-weds."

They continued in a different route to the Bazaar.

[xxxxxxxx]

"I've got it!" Zelda cried triumphantly, holding out the bug with relish. Link sighed, relieved.

"So we're finally done…"

"Quick, cross it off the list!" she said, as the bug was struggling out of her fingers. And it was only after Link had finished that she let it go.

"We've made quite a mess…" Link said, looking down at the broken clay shards scattered around their feet. "Guess we have to clean it all up."

Zelda's eyes glowed. "Give me your Gust Bellows."

They blew everything off the island.

"Hope it doesn't hit anything down there," Zelda murmured, looking over the edge with a concerned expression.

"Well, let's go back," Link suggested. They dove off the wooden platforms, and their loftwings flew to meet them half-way. As they neared the green beacon above Faron, Zelda hopped onto Link's bird, and they jumped down together.

Link readied the sailcloth in his hands, and Zelda clung on to him. They landed softly outside their house, and the familiar greenery surrounded them once again.

"Home sweet home," said Link as they entered through the front door.

Zelda held up the list in front of her. "I'm framing this."

"Why?" asked Link.

Smiling softly at him, Zelda placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him on the lips. "They're memories. I want to treasure them."

* * *

**This was quite long, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing this oneshot! I hope you had fun reading this, and feedback would be awesome! **

**Thanks,**

**Doodle**


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